66-million-year-old snapshot of a forest just before the mass extinction of the dinosaurs
As far back as the time of the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago, forests recovered from fires in the same manner they do today, according to…
Category: Biology
Giant pill-millipedes that chirp while mating discovered in Madagascar
An international team of researchers comprised of Thomas Wesener, Museum Koenig, Bonn, Daniel Le, Field Museum, Chicago and Stephanie Loria,…
Extinction and recolonization of coastal megafauna following human arrival in New Zealand
Ancient DNA research has been applied to demonstrate the dynamic response of natural ecosystems to human impacts, with the discovery of…
Parasitic fig wasps penetrate figs with zinc-hardened drill bit tips to lay eggs
Female insects have one goal in life: to find the best place to lay their eggs. For fig wasps, that is the developing fruit of the luscious…
Total mass of deep sea fish in the ocean could be 10,000 million tons
The total stock of fish on the planet had been reckoned until today to be around 2,000 million tonnes. About half of them were thought to be…
Blind species of cavefish discovered in southern Indiana has an anus right behind its head
A new eyeless cavefish is described from Indiana and named after the Indiana Hoosiers. It is the first new cavefish species described from…
Young forests suck up more carbon dioxide than old forests
WOODS HOLE, Mass.— As forests age, their ability to grow decreases, a new study by Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) scientists and…
Misunderstood fin with no clear function evolved repeatedly in different fishes
Though present in more than 6,000 living species of fish, the adipose fin, a small appendage that lies between the dorsal fin and tail, has…
Modern ocean acidification is outpacing ancient acidification upheaval
Some 56 million years ago, a massive pulse of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere sent global temperatures soaring. In the oceans, carbonate…
Preserving Cuttlefish and a Valuable Fishing Industry
Once upon a time, in a sea far far away, called Adriatic Sea, there were many cuttlefish. These delicate creatures spent their short life…